Raptors game postponed over virus concerns

All season long, it felt like the Toronto raptors were simply avoiding the inevitable.

The inevitable happened Sunday morning as the raptors joined 26 other NBA teams to have their first game postponed in accordance with the league’s health and safety protocols.

The scheduled game with the chicago Bulls, who were already in Florida, will become part of an already jampacked second half schedule.

It is yet to be determined if the raptors’ two remaining games of the first half — a Monday home game in Tampa versus detroit and a road game Thursday in Boston — will be affected.

The raptors are the 27th team to have a game postponed.

The Sunday game postponement is “because of positive test results and ongoing contact tracing within the raptors, the team will not have the league-required eight available players to proceed.”

The league went ahead with Friday’s game versus houston with Pascal Siakam, head coach Nick Nurse and five of his assistant coaches all held out with the health and safety protocols reason given.

Siakam, it was reported by ESPN’S Adrian Wojnarowski on Saturday, will miss at least the remaining games on the raptors’ schedule before the league shuts down for its All-star Game break.

DURANT NOT PLAYING BUT WILL BE PICKING

While an injured left hamstring will keep Brooklyn Nets star Kevin durant from playing in the All-star Game March 7, it won’t prevent him from performing his main duty as captain: drafting a team.

Thursday’s All-star draft will feature durant and West captain Lebron James each drafting a squad from the pool of eligible players.

There was no word on whether durant will travel to Atlanta for the All-star Game.

durant has missed the past seven games and will sit out the next two prior to the break, which begins on Friday.